Take a journey, a trip through time, to the Old West. And inject a bit
of jazz fusion. You might come up with something like Arthur Vint & His
Associates’ Through the Badlands (Vintage Modern Music, 2016).

The title song captures the theme perfectly. One can almost hear Johnny
Cash crooning one of his country western songs to this soundtrack. The
atmosphere has the ambient presence of southwestern landscapes of Utah,
Arizona or Nevada. Then the tempo kicks in, and that scenery of
sagebrush, distant mountains and the occasional cow skull is broken up
by modern conveniences, like paved roads, motor cars and electric
guitars. The guitar, harmonica and violin harmonize well. All other
instruments play their roles, too.

“Heyoka” breaks the mold, just a bit. This is a more contemporary
sounding piece. Cowherd shifts from acoustic piano to organ. Tenor,
violin and harmonica team up for the lead. Vint stays mostly in the
background here, but licks his chops throughout, mixing up how he plays
the rhythm, tossing rim shots here against tom rolls there and cymbal
play elsewhere. Stapp is locked in, too, though again mostly in support
of the leads. Prene and Cowherd are the featured soloists.

Everybody gets into the act on “Kindling.” The percussive opening beat
suggests something from the Serengeti, but it quickly evolves into an
all-in composition that has a touch of Latin jazz in places. Sax and
violin carry the melody. The middle passage calls for a series of solos
by Gonzales, Perry and Cowherd, each accompanied by a different mood
from the rhythm players. After a call and response with the leads, Vint
takes a moment to give his a kit a thorough workout.

Through the Badlands is Vint’s vision of the American
southwest, combining Native American sounds with country and western
motifs and contemporary jazz. Influences for this project include Neil
Young, John Coltrane, Thelonious Monk and Marty Robbins. And though the
artist shines throughout, the music is written for the entire band, and
for each member to have moments in the spotlight.